Pigeon Forge with the Ellis Family

Maddi Grace - Jon's niece

Blake Ellis - He is such a cutie !

Jon swimming with his nephew Blake!I love this picture!
Jon & Amanda

Mr. Chance loved camping! Even Randall liked him.

We had the best time camping this past weekend. It was a chance to meet Jon's parents, Gary and GiGi Ellis. Even Jon's brother Chris and his wife Jennifer along with Blake & Madylyn came.

Such a sweet family......!!! We had lots of fun!

Scoring for BHR-Virginia

I have a new part-time job. I have been scoring some of the truck races this summer.

Shortly after the season started Amanda called me asking if I would be interested in scoring some of the truck races for BHR this summer.....since they would pay my travel expenses and pay me for the actual scoring of the race I said YES! This way I could see Amanda and still make some money. Ha! It's only 9 races total but it's been fun. I have to admit it is a little intimidating. They are very strict (nascar). I don't know....for some reason they want this scoring thing to be....shall I say.....correct. So that means no talking, cell phones must be off, and you can't go to the bathroom unless you FLAG someone down that can take over for you. Well I just as soon HOLD IT until it's all over. I am responsible for counting every lap for the #18 Tahoe Dodge (Dennis Setzer) and I have to record his time as he goes across the start/finish line.

Sounds easy....right? Well trust me it can get confusing....especially when he pits and you can't find the driver because you think he is still on the track. Oh well.

Disney World 2008

Amanda and my mom at the Luau
Rachel Ray he was NOT
Carrie & Ryan at Epcot
Sweet Courtney Rose
Mary Poppins, Courtney, & Ryan
Amanda BEFORE Sun Poisoning

Well we made our annual trip to Disney World. Amanda and I met my mom, Carrie, Ryan, Courtney, and Carrie's mom in Disney World. I had only been back from my Bonaire trip two weeks and I was off again. Carrie's family had a family reunion in Florida and so since they were already there we decided to make a trip to see them too! Even my brother joined us the day before Amanda and I had to leave. The kids LOVED everything about the trip and they were so good. I can't help it but they are two of the cutest kids EVER. I'm not sure that Amanda had that much fun. We arrived on Saturday and on Monday Amanda decided to stay back at the resort to catch up on some work while everyone else headed to Epcot. Being in Florida it's hard to "work" in the room so she moved herself down to the pool. Above picture is before this story. All summer long I have been getting lectured on by AJ about using SPF 30...she even has a message about it on her email. Well guess who didn't use enough SPF 30. So for the next 2 days she sat in the room sicker than I have ever seen her. She was so RED that you couldn't tell her from Rudolph. We also attended the Luau at the Polynesian Resort. That was a late mother's day gift for my mom. It was fun too! Food was WONDERFUL! If you get the chance I highly recommend it. I've posted a few more pictures of the trip!

Trip to Bonaire

Recently Randall and I took a scuba diving vacation to Bonaire. I DO NOT scuba dive unless you count my falling off the boat on the Friday before we left. No I'm not kidding. Normally I lay by the pool while the group scuba dives....I figure that is safe enough. Well I let them talk me into going out on the boat to see the dolphins...yada yada yada. So I decide that I do not want to appear to anti-social and agree to go with them. On this particular day they decide to take us to the EAST side of the island. This is a part of the island that they (the group) have never been to before....well there is a reason for that.....it's ROUGH. So on our way to the EAST side of the island some of the ladies (myself included) were sunning on the front of the boat. As we venture out further to the dive site the water goes from calm to waters I like to call....get me outta here!

The dive master stopped the boat and requested that we (the ladies that are sunning) get back in the back of the boat due to the rough waters. So Linda (first suntanned lady) slowly works her way around the side of the boat and proceeds safely into the boat. Then it's my turn. With camera in one hand and coverup in my other hand I take two steps only to slip and go directly thru the bars of the boat into the ocean. Keep in mind please I DO NOT SWIM. I go under with my sunglasses and flip-flops still on.....camera has gone flying......along with the coverup. I come up and thankfully.......I do keep calm........I actually had enough sense to not panic. Anyways three men dived in (Randall was not one of them) and saved me. Other than that our trip was peaceful, uneventful, and relaxing. I can't wait to go back.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY RYAN!

Today is Ryan's birthday. It's hard to believe that he is already 5....count em 5 years old!
I didn't get to go to his birthday party yesterday.......but I heard it was a blast! I miss you buddy!

Easter Weekend 2008

We had a great Easter weekend! Amanda and Jon both came and that made it special.
Friday night we picked up Amanda and Jon from the airport and then ate at Demo's with Hailey and Justin. Hailey looks adorable. I can't wait until Jake gets here! Hailey and Amanda talked about college days.....blamed everything mischevious on Rachel and Amanda nearly choked on her spaghetti because she was laughing so hard. Actually that was kind of gross.
Saturday we had Easter dinner at my mother-in-law's house. We had spiral sliced country ham (Clifty Farm of course) and all the side items you can think of. Everything was yummy!
Easter Sunday was much colder but sunny. We had a full house in Sunday School with 14 two-year olds. They were all so cute in their spring clothes. Just hung out and relaxed and then took Amanda and Jon back to the airport so they could head back to North Carolina. It was VERY quiet at our house last night. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Happy Birthday Mom

This past weekend we had a surprise birthday party for my mom. I better not post her age....it could prove to be a fatal decision if I did....but it was a significant "birthday".

It was a chance to see my nieces and nephews in the Chicago area. So Sweet!

I've posted some pictures of Courtney, Ryan, Gracie, Cody, & Taylor!!!

Hope you all enjoy them as much as I do.